1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to storage media drives and removable storage media devices, and in one example, to a storage media drive having a reel lock release sensing system and method.
2. Related Art
Magnetic tape cartridges have been used to conveniently and efficiently store and handle magnetic recording media for tape drives. One type of tape cartridge consists of a substantially rectangular exterior cartridge housing and a single reel containing a magnetic tape positioned within the housing. The cartridge housing includes an upper housing section and a lower housing section that substantially enclose the magnetic tape, which includes a cartridge leader. The cartridge leader becomes exposed through an opening in the cartridge housing during insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive. The tape drive is then able to engage and retrieve the tape from the cartridge for recording and/or playback.
The reel includes a hub, one or more flanges, and a plurality of teeth that are exposed through an access opening in the lower housing section. A reel driver (sometimes referred to as a drive clutch) on the tape drive engages the teeth in order to rotate the reel and load the tape (i.e., unwind the tape) into the drive. Typically, a spring within the cartridge housing biases the reel toward the opening in the lower housing section. During engagement between the reel driver and the teeth, the tape drive exerts a force against the reel, urging the reel toward the upper housing section, thereby partially compressing the spring to promote a secure engagement between the drive clutch and the reel. The tape drive then rotates the reel and guides the tape across a data transducer that reads data from and/or writes data to the tape.
A cartridge further typically includes at least one reel lock mechanism to prevent the reel from rotating when not positioned within a tape drive receiver, thereby securing the media within the cartridge housing until the one or more reel locks are released or disengaged within the media drive. For example, a typical DLT tape cartridge includes two reel lock mechanisms, both of which are released when in a media drive to enable the tape drive to load the media. Damage to the tape drive, the cartridge, or both may results if one or more of the reel locks fails to release properly when the cartridge is inserted into the tape drive and an attempt is made to load the media. For example, the tape drive leader integrity may be compromised if the reel locks are not properly released when attempting to load the media.